Orbitofrontal, amygdala and hippocampal volumes in teenagers with first-presentation borderline personality disorder

Chanen, Andrew M.; Velakoulis, Dennis; Carison, Kate; Gaunson, Karen; Wood, Stephen J.; Yuen, Hok Pan; Yücel, Murat; Jackson, Henry J.; McGorry, Patrick D.; Pantelis, Christos

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.08.007

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 163, Issue 2 , Pages 116-125, 15 July 2008

Orbitofrontal, amygdala and hippocampal volumes in teenagers with first-presentation borderline personality disorder

Andrew M. Chanen
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ORYGEN Youth Health, Northwestern Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia
- Corresponding author. ORYGEN Research Centre, Locked Bag 10, Parkville, Victoria, Australia 3052. Tel.: +61 3 9342 2800; fax: +61 3 9387 3003.
Dennis Velakoulis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
Kate Carison
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Karen Gaunson
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Stephen J. Wood
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
- Brain Research Institute, Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Hok Pan Yuen
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Murat Yücel
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
Henry J. Jackson
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- School of Behavioural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Patrick D. McGorry
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ORYGEN Youth Health, Northwestern Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia
Christos Pantelis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia

Received 13 April 2007; received in revised form 3 July 2007; accepted 26 August 2007.

Abstract

It is not known whether the fronto-limbic volume reductions found in adults with established borderline personality disorder (BPD) are present early in the disorder. The aim of the study was to investigate orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), hippocampal and amygdala volumes in a first-presentation teenage BPD sample with minimal exposure to treatment. Groups of 20 BPD patients and 20 healthy control participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Hippocampal, amygdala, OFC and whole brain volumes were estimated and compared between the two groups. Analysis of variance revealed reversal of the normal (right>left) asymmetry of OFC grey matter volume in the BPD group, reflecting right-sided OFC grey matter loss in the BPD group compared with control participants. No significant differences were found for amygdala or hippocampal volumes comparing BPD with control participants. We identified OFC but not hippocampal or amygdala volumetric differences early in the course of BPD. Hippocampal and amygdala volume reductions observed in adult BPD samples might develop during the course of the disorder, although longitudinal studies are needed to examine this.